EP:033 Alex Kaplan

Today we sit down with Alex Kaplan the founder of a non-profit film company that raises the conversation about addiction and mental health through short films. 
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Transcript

Carl Fessenden: 1:20

Hey guys, are you looking for a backstage pass? How about behind the scenes look at this podcast, I have exciting news for you. Starting October 1, we will be opening the doors to the drunk and warm podcast, and loving our listeners join in the funny conversation. Check out the different ways that you can support the show and gain access to exclusive content, such as free drunk and warm podcast merchandise for one full year. Join an exclusive community where you can talk to other members vote on upcoming show topics. Here exclusive audio footage from interviews each month, receive a personal shout out on an upcoming episode. And stay up to date with the drunk and warm podcast monthly newsletter so that you can stay informed about upcoming guests, show topics and community with four different pledge options to fit any budget. You can flex your power and become a superfan today. All right, and welcome to the drunken Warren podcast. And you're going to be listening to Episode 33. today and I want to say Happy Tuesday to everybody, I hope that everybody is doing well. Man, it's into spring now a couple of weeks in and it's really starting to warm up a little bit. And I'm starting to get that springtime field going. We just had St. Patty's Day about a month ago. So I hope that everybody had a safe St. Patty's Day I hope that you guys were out there being safe. I know that a lot of times that can be a trigger for people. And so you know, we have to start combating these triggers and finding out other safe ways to have celebrations and to stay safe during our recovery process. And one of the ways that we're going to be staying safe today is we're going to be talking to our guest, Alex, and he's going to be talking about his project in his company of substance and how they reach out to people with short films to empower them to succeed in their recovery and to succeed in life. So without any further ado, let's jump into this week's episode. Welcome to the drunken worm podcast. Each week, I will be bringing you dynamic content that will educate and inspire. This podcast was created to talk to mental health professionals about addiction recovery and their own personal stories that can help inspire us to become better people and live healthier lives. Alright, and again, welcome to the drunken worm podcast. My name is Carl, the host and the creator of this podcast. And today's guest is Alex Kaplan. We're going to be talking about how Alex Alex uses movies as a tool to improve people's sense of belonging and empowerment, addiction and health within the media. And we're also going to be thinking progressively about the way that we treat addiction, mental health, trauma, and more. In today's episode, Episode 33 on the drunken worm podcast. So I want to welcome Alex to the stage and into the studio. Alex, welcome, man.

Alex Kaplen: 4:12

Hey, Carl, thank you so much for having me. This is so cool. Yeah, you're

Carl Fessenden: 4:16

welcome, brother. You're welcome. You know, we got a lot of a lot of things to celebrate man, you know, our sobriety, the great work that you guys are doing at of substance, which really focuses on bringing awareness to mental health issues, and addiction through short films. So why don't you tell us a little bit about your story and how you came to want to spread the word about this and further people's education and empowerment process?

Alex Kaplen: 4:44

Sure, yeah. Thank you so much. So I, my my personal story is I was my dad died when I was 23 years old. I'm 36 now, and I was raised, wealthy, and very lucky, very fortunate. But on the day that we buried my father, we found out we were 10s of millions of dollars in debt, due to some interesting circumstances, but nothing shady, just unfortunate. And, and so on the same day that I lost my dad, we also lost everything that ever made me feel safe, but it's really what I lost was my context with with the world around. That's how I related to the community I knew and the people and like it's um, it's weird how, how much of your identity is in like your socio economic, like standing and environment. And so I ran away, I disappeared, I crawled into a deep bottle of booze and under a huge mountain of cocaine. I just I disappeared i numb for years. And um, and once I realized, like, this wasn't going anywhere, and you know, I was doing to eight balls a day for five days straight. With a bottle or two of something to balance it out each day. Yeah. When I was still alive, somehow I was like, hey, maybe there's maybe there's a different choice. And I started I started seeking help for myself. And I tried A couple of different methodologies. And I don't think that it's about the methodology you find, I think it's about the community. I think it's about people. And unfortunately, the, the communities and the people I've found where they may have been abstinent, but they were miserable. And it didn't encourage me to want to go through the work it would take to be as miserable as a work so. So I, I was about to quit before I found a progressive room that was led by a doctor who, in which we don't really talk about recovery, we don't use the terms recovery or relapse. And we don't count days, we don't even the goal of the room isn't even to get into stay sober. The goal of the room is to intentionally work to consistently improve the quality of your life. Yes, oh, that's, that's where I got sober. I've been in that room for nine years. Now. When I learned to be a, it's the room I learned to be a husband, a better son, brother, father, son someday and a professional and a friend. And, and it was a place that was really warm and welcoming, that I fell off the wagon every week. And every week, I'd come back Tuesday nights, because they just said, keep coming back and just be honest with us. And I would come back and I'd be honest, and I'd say hey, I fell off again. I fucked up again. I left group I got I got blow and I didn't all week, maybe like, hey, that's okay, you're doing great way to come in and waited just tell us that is that's the hardest thing you can do. Right? You're doing everything right, just keep coming back. And I kept leaving and falling and leaving and falling. But I keep coming back and saying I fell again. And they kept making me feel like I wasn't. I wasn't, I wasn't worthless. You know, like, I wasn't a complete fuckup every week. And there was just something to that I developed the, the this the the habit of vulnerability and honesty, right. And I stopped hiding and I stopped lying. And I started to feel less shame. And I felt seen, I felt encouraged. And over time, it just, it was tremendous. And that's, that's the room I got. So this is really cool. And so I'm of substance, I also happen to be a filmmaker. And I was making documentary short documentary films for companies in Philadelphia. And but but I i still deeply believe in the power of just movies. And we my co founder, and I were just like, hey, what if there were a bunch of short films that were just as immersive, entertaining and high in quality as they were challenging, authentic and insightful and some perspective of addiction. Right? Oh, a growing collection of those on a YouTube channel would be something more than a collection of films, it's a it's a safe place where I can go in an instant and feel seen, heard and loved and feel empowered, and recognize that I'm not alone, feel understood, and then go back to work all through a five minute rom com. So so that's how we got started. And that's where we're where it all came from. But we've evolved quite a bit since then. Yes, it's been a hell of a road.

Carl Fessenden: 9:46

Yes. Yeah, I love the work that you guys are doing. And you know, I'm a huge film buff man, like, I love the ability for a film to to remove me from wherever I'm at in that moment, and to immerse myself into this cinematic adventure, right, where, you know, I have nothing that I need to worry about in that moment. And I know that there are certain films out there that that strive to do different things. You know, a documentary is striving to provide an educational context or a history, like a history context towards somebody's life, or an event or you know, something like that. And then you have, you know, your different genres of movie. So let me ask you, man, what was the what's the one movie that really has influenced you over the years that you've seen? That was like, that was like your number one. Like, this is what I want to do.

Alex Kaplen: 10:45

Oh, man, are you out of your mind asking you that question? God, that question of like, what's your favorite movie? I'm like, I could add it here. Right. I'll be totally honest, though. Yeah. i i My favorite movies are are stranger than fiction. Okay. Are A Little Miss Sunshine. Do you know these? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think like that. I love all right. Yeah. 1917 was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen in my entire life. I So three times in theaters, right? Like, it's not my favorite movie might those warm movies that are just like human relationships and down to earth, and they're funny, and they're smart, Dan in Real Life, like, those are those are my favorite movies that that make me feel connected, that makes me think of my relationships in my family in my world. Why? And I know that those are the ones that that are just always there in the back of my head, that are influencing me who I want to be and how I'm relating to my life in my world, right? Yeah.

Carl Fessenden: 11:57

Yeah, man in and I can, I can totally agree with you on on those films, great films. 1917 truly amazing, the cinematography in that movie. And the whole story about, you know, this young guy going through this whole process. And, you know, in all of the things that go along with that, man, I've got to tell you, I think the probably the, the one movie that really comes to mind for me that I saw in the theaters. And I've made a mention of this on another podcast that I do. And it's Jurassic Park, man. And I remember seeing that in the theaters. And I was very hesitant to go to that film initially, because I thought it was going to be scary, I didn't know what to expect, you know, and I thought I was going to be scared out of my mind, and I'm going to be stuck in this movie theater, and all my friends were going to be there and I was going to be embarrassed. And my mom's friend detta, who was a small Italian lady, who I towered over in my teen years, because she's like, literally just over four feet tall. And she told me, she said, you know, you should go to this movie. And I'm so thankful for her for, like, just encouraging me to do that. Because the the way that that movie was presented to us when that helicopter is going through the mountains, and you have the music by, you know, John Williams, and you have this big, triumphant moment, for the first time when they see the live dinosaur out in the fields. And they're coming up out of the car and taking their glasses off in this whole, you know, production of cinematic value, right. And it was at that moment that I was sold on the fact that movies can transport somebody to a different place. And they have the ability to relieve stresses that happen to us in our daily lives. And it was at that point that I was completely sold on movies, man. And so let me ask, let me ask you this brother. So we talk about short films. And when I think of a short film, I'm thinking of a film that's probably maybe between 25 to 30 minutes long. Is that kind of the essence of a short film? What what does it mean to have a short film versus a regular full length movie?

Alex Kaplen: 14:13

So actually, feature films are considered 40 minutes or longer. So you're right on, right, but at the same time, our films are three to 12 minutes max, like we we really try to make these bite size suspense pieces from Tom's thrillers that are just like real quick, you dive right in the immersive fast, because like, you know, what, what we recognize is that it's not about like, we know that the power of movies, right, all you got to do is one one time, but we're inundated with, right. But the problem is like just going to a theater and watching a movie is not going to have the impact that that we know it could have. So we're doing it of substance is where we're recognizing that it's less about content than is men, it is about context. And it's about the mode of delivery. So we're trying to turn movies from our greatest tool for distraction and escapism into our most powerful tool for healing and growth by creating these bite size films that we consider tools, right, that go into the beginning of class that go at the beginning of group therapy, or or a discussion or training in HR. So because it creates an inescapable emotional experience, right, which is how we learn best and create the intrinsic motivation. Right? So that's, that's what we're doing where we've what we've figured out we've cracked the code of not using movies in these situations we've been trying to use and forever like rehabs have, we've been watching 28 days over and over and over and rehabs, right? Everybody knows it. But watching that movie over and over, it loses everything we need more, we need them shorter and we need to do that. But like movies, even short ones. So it's a it's a really, really high value, expensive product. So we do is we're a nonprofit that engages the community and volunteer filmmakers to donate a day of your time on set with us as you would Habitat for Humanity. But coming on set and being part of a community, with no ego, with no nothing to creating connection and relationships, but also working on something that you know, is going to have exponential and scalable impact in the future, while schools and treatment with with your family and your friends. So that's, that's how we figured out how we utilize altruism and a sense of purpose and service and community to make a high value product, so that it can go into these systems and actually make some change. And we know that. Yeah,

Carl Fessenden: 16:56

that's, that's excellent man. And, you know, and, and the idea that we can use these movies as a starting point to engage people in conversation about a topic, a starting point to educate somebody who might be afraid to bring up a topic, or maybe they're even struggling with that idea. In the start of your group, as a clinician, myself, I love showing movies, I love doing meditations, I love pulling people outside of their comfort zone in a short manner, to start a group, because now, we are now taking them and they've had a visual experience have had an audio experience. And they've had all of these senses that are now being triggered inside of them. And now we can take that and say, how do you guys feel about that? What, what came up for you when you saw that? Can you relate to that? And so, you know, this is a fantastic tool that you guys are starting to do and are doing for the recovery community, but also the clinical community as well. Because this is a tool that can that can bridge gaps. You know,

Alex Kaplen: 18:08

that's exactly the vision, right? Like, I mean, we were we're nonprofit, and we want to always have at least 20% of our films and our resources free on our site for anybody to use anytime they need. But it's also like, the vision is a self sustaining nonprofit, where we were able to create revenue streams and offerings and products to put into the markets to help as tools for clinicians as tools for educators as tools for trainers. So that whatever revenue comes in, goes into the nonprofit, so that we can make more films, we can make more stories, we can tell more things, we can bring more people together. So it's just this like, ecosystem, but but the idea is a tool to offer to professionals and facilitators, to help enhance and expedite the outcomes that you can have in the work that you're already doing. And we, it's really, it's so cool. We have gotten so much fun feedback from clinicians and therapists and professionals. They're just like, our job is to sit and spend hour after hour in session upon session, right? Having conversations to finally pierce that armor to get to that vulnerable place where the healing conversation happens, right of substance films allows us to get there in an instant, right? And there's many different reasons why is like, if you watch, if I'm a if I'm a patient, and I'm watching and we watch something in therapy together, and I, I might not be ready to say like my feelings about something, but I'm going to project my experiences and my opinions on to what I just saw. So I might say, Oh, this is what happened there, which is totally revealing to the professional and the clinician to say, that's what they that's how they see the world. Yeah, so it allows for that, while also just like, if it's not that hard, and it's just like, oh my god, this reminds me of like my brother, this relationship has everything. And it's just like easy. And so these tools, we've created these tools to help you guys as much as possible to improve and enhance the impact that you can have at a quicker rate. So yeah, we're in it with you, we're right here with you.

Carl Fessenden: 20:21

And you know, in a while you were saying that I was envisioning doing a group and showing a movie. And you know, as a clinician, we use movies sparingly because a lot of movies aren't considered to be a evidence based approach unless we have material that goes along with it. But the great thing about this is that we can show a very short, you know, three to you said eight minutes or 12 minutes long as students Oh, you know, yeah. So, you know, this is a really good tool to spark conversation. And it also allows the clients to relax a little bit. It allows them to feel a little more comfortable in the setting. Because as a clinician when I say, Hey, we're doing a movie today, man, it's like everybody just relaxes. Right? All right. Yeah, man, you know, and it's so it's so good for them to to just know that recovery is fun. It doesn't have to be the same boring materials that we do in all of our groups. And you know, and dude, I'm serious, because there are so many materials out there that are just so dry, that even as a trained clinician to do the materials, sometimes it's like pulling nails, when we have, you know, clients that aren't ready for that approach yet. And so we have to find these different ways to try to engage them. So I'm really encouraged by this. And I really think that this is going to be a fantastic tool for for so many different groups in the recovery community to use on both sides of the scale.

Alex Kaplen: 21:56

Thanks, Carl, thank you so much. That's, that's the ideas, just some, we're already creating clinical guides that we are that are like, it's a it's a really fun and comprehensive thing that we have. We've engaged a lot of clinicians in designing, because we're just like, how can we make this even fun for you guys, right clinicians to activate, right? So just, if we have a collection of 12 films, each film can touch on 10 to 15 topics. And you just go into the beginning of our of our guide, and you're just like, oh, today I want to work on forgiveness, patience, like recovery, early recovery, relapse, whatever, you go down the list, and it's just like, oh, relapse. Okay, here's a traps day 94 This that go to page 68. Okay, so day 94 about forgiveness. Here are the objectives. Here's the synopsis. Here's how it's two minutes long. Here are the 10 guiding questions to help you and like dive in, if you want some help. On the back, there's teaching moments, it might be like, alcohol, myopia, right? Like different, like things that are just Stockholm Syndrome, it's like to think a little bit differently. And then we also include creative activities that engage everybody. So it's just a little bit more fun. And usually, that's just like, take this topic from this film. We encourage you to journal about it, but don't journal about it in any way. We want you to respond to the film today, or the theme of today or the conversation. Do it how you one creatively, write raw paint, sculpt, sketch, write some music, write prose, break poetry, don't do a photo series, we, we believe that, that artistic expression, and storytelling is one of the best forms of self discovery that we have. Absolutely. So we work to engage people in constantly finding more fun, watch a movie and then paint, right. And so the other thing about it is like we've designed this company, so that it's just like, we made eight films in eight months, six of which we shot to a day, this was before we have funding, this is just us using to figure out like what we can do. And so it's about constantly giving you more and more and more content. So you guys don't get bored, so that you guys feel fresh, because that's hard to do the same thing day in, day out. So we're thinking about you too, all the time.

Carl Fessenden: 24:22

Yeah, and that's, that's so, so good to hear, man. Because, you know, this is a common thing, when when we have people that go into a treatment program, the the educational materials that we have for them to utilize our program to utilize, you have your Hazleton, which is a large corporation that has multiple different types of material for clinicians to use in group and, you know, evidence based processes and stuff like that. And then you also have your Cincinnati curriculum, and there's just so many other more out, there's so many out there, that, you know, it's it would be too long to list now. But the problem that we run into, especially here in California is that you might have somebody that is incarcerated, that has already done these programs. And now they're coming in to a treatment center. And the treatment center is like hey, man, great. I'm we're so glad you're here, you're going to have a great experience here. We want to help you stay sober, we want to help you get back on track with your life, we want to teach you these pro social skills. And this is a curriculum that we're going to be doing with you. And I can't tell you how many times I've had somebody sit across from me and say, Hey, man, I've already done this. You know, but, but that also was on the other side of the coin, we're now as a clinician, we have to say, well, you know, how can we approach it differently with you, so that you can get something different out of it? Or you can expand on what you've already received out of it. So you know, I'm not saying that it's bad that we have them going through the same material, but it's very common to have that where they are going through the same material. So I think that having these approaches, and another program that I want to get you hooked on man is our one learning and yeah, dude r1 learning is amazing. And I've talked about them a bunch. Alex is looking for a pen and a piece of Paper, Tom Carl over r1 learning, I'll get to his his information, he's going to be on the podcast here in a couple of days doing an interview. And he has a program that is interactive, that is evidence based, that works in coincide with these other evidence based programs. So like your program where you're talking about, you know, you're engaging the clients, and you're having them go out and do artwork, you're having them engage in different in different factors, you're raking them into diets, and, you know, and all of these other ways that we get the clients to engage outside inside of group, other than just filling out a piece of paper, you know, within talking about it, right? Because if we can engage all these other senses with them, and we can engage a full, you know, a full aspect of their sight, sense, sound, smell, and all these other things, it's going to start to rebuild these processes inside of our brain, that we're going to start triggering faster. And we're going to see connection faster, because we are engaging the brain forcing it to get back into shape by putting it through its paces.

Alex Kaplen: 27:26

Exactly. That was so well said. I think that's exactly the point is just like, we're not trying to flip the script. We're not trying to like wipe anything out. We're just we we feel like there's just something that's missing. And that's, that's a regular class, right? That's an any training. That's any that's anything. What's missing is the emotional connection, the emotional engagement to start us off, which expedites that interest, then, whatever, whatever we whatever program we dive into afterward, I guarantee we're all going to be a little bit more engaged. So, so that's so funny. You were say, Nope, I lost what I was gonna

Carl Fessenden: 28:09

say, that's all right, man. It happens all the time. All the time. So you know, but it's, it's so good to see this because now we are taking something we're we're engaging them. And as a clinician, on the flip end of that, when I do my notes for the end of the group, now I can say, well, this client engaged, and this is how they demonstrated using the skill. And they were able to do this in this in this. So now we're showing measurable growth, which then correlates over to their treatment plan, right, their, their, their progress notes in their treatment plan. And now we're seeing a measurement progress and growth for that client for their overall goals, which is clinically sound.

Alex Kaplen: 28:50

It's brilliant, right? And that's like, that's the other thing is the these films as tools, they're tools that prime viewers emotionally, right, that's That's it? And like, they're so simple, and they're so small, and they're so easy to use, that they're all at once. Preventative, yes, proactive, reactive and supportive. You can use them as you want, you can use them with this program with that program, you can just like show them at the beginning of a group, because it's going to just light up your groups, even if you don't do much more than just like hash things out in your your regular like group. Yeah, by having this film at the beginning of it. Everybody has the same context. Everybody's already engaged in story, everybody something else, it's going to lift your groups exponentially, just engagement interest in and also for the clinicians, right. But like, at the same time, these films where we're trying to build a platform as well. So like, it's important to us that these are always a portion of our films are always free online. I was I was living in Philly, I moved to LA, three weeks before COVID, actually. And I was I was living in Philly. And we my co founder and I had this idea. And we were just like, we need to make a couple of films to show people that have this. This looks as a proof of concept. And one of our films traps is our like, go to film, it's about a woman in a bar, who is doing great. She's recently out of treatment, sees her brother, everything's good. She's leaving the bar on her own. And she sees the bar and she she decides she's not going to drank and she goes to leave. And she hits a white wall. Like she hits this metaphorical white wall, but it's real in her head in her face. And she is trapped. And so I I handed this two page script to my mother. Well, a woman I lived with for five years while trying to get off off of booze and stop drinking and following every day. And, and she read it and she looks at me and she says is this really what it's like for you? I said Yes, Mom. This is what it's like for me. And we we spent the next 25 minutes holding each other tightly as we cried our eyes out because for the first time she identify because it wasn't about this woman who couldn't stop drinking. It was about the universally relatable emotional human In the experience of trying and failing at something of a growth of failure of adversity, right, like that's, that's the thing about these movies is movies are never about the circumstance they seem to be about. They're not about Thor fighting Thanos. That's not what it's about. It's about that underlying human experience that we can all relate to. And so that's, that's the thing about us. Our work is not about getting people to get and stay sober. It's not about just understanding alcoholism, it is about helping all people feel seen, heard and loved, to better see, hear and love the people we care about. And to recognize that you are already always enough. And that's, that's what our messages, that's a world we're working toward. Because when I was getting sober, I finally recognized that my issue was far less about using substances and was about why I use substances. Shame, it's about a fear of not belonging, it's about a fear of not good enough, all leading to isolation, and none of which is unique to addiction. That's just being it's just being a fucking person. Right, right. And so like, that's what that's what we're able to do with our films is we're able to look past the drinking pass, the drugging, has everything that is so superficial, and see the human, the human, we can all identify. And that's the power of these films. So it was in that moment with my mom, that we were finally able to move the conversation past, why can't you stop drinking? And to I see you, I love you, I'm with you. Well, that's the magic of what we're doing. So we make sure that we tell stories from the loved ones perspective as much as from those addicted, because what we can do is the mom can share a film with me that's like, hopefully one day Ridley Scott sci fi, it's just about, from her perspective, every time I fall off the wagon, and I can watch and be like, Oh, shit, that was awesome. I never realized how much I was burning down your world. Right? Now. We have expedited a bridge of communication connection, now I'm in it with you from from across the like, aisle, right. And so that's what we're really working towards. That's what we're really doing. Yeah,

Carl Fessenden: 33:29

that's, that's so awesome to hear. Because, you know, I've had those moments in recovery, where it is that kind of that aha moment where I connected with somebody else. And I was there. And I realized all the shit that I had done to them. And, and I had this vision of like, holy fuck this, this is their experience. And this is how they viewed me. And it really brought me brought this humanistic feel to the whole relationship and the conversation that I was having with that person in that moment. And it takes all of those barriers for me down. And it really wants me made me want to appreciate what they were feeling, make me want to understand better, you know, how I affected them, so that I could grow from that as well. Along with an amends process, right? Because that's, for my community. That's a part of our process. You talked about the humanistic effect. And a movie that comes to mind that really brings well two movies, one that I just watched recently, that you might not have seen. It's an unknown film, or what kind of unknown it's called Ruby. And it's about this Rhode Island State Trooper, and he is at his last chance to apply for the canine unit. He's he's aged out 29 years old. And he goes into this whole thing, presuming to think what this instructor is looking for out of him. And so he walks into the office and he says, Hey, I know that you probably think that I'm not good enough. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that, you know, and starting to do all these things. And it's this whole process of him finding a rescue dog, and that connection with a service animal, and them going through this whole process together to better themselves through trials and tribulations. And in the end, it's a beautiful picture. The other movie that comes to mind is Forrest Gump. I think Forrest Gump is probably the biggest movie to hit and I say this, maybe you you will disagree, but to bring a humanistic approach towards life. Understanding and all of the things that, that that character had to go through the Tom Hanks portrayed from the time that he was born to bullying, through, you know, the 60s of war, the 70s. And all of the things that he had to endure, and just this, this whole process of that movie was this humanistic approach to humanity, and how we have approached things, and how he approaches a relationship with Jenny, and how he approaches a relationship with himself and his mom, and overcoming all of these, you know, all these obstacles that were placed in front of him. And for him to sit at the end, and to talk to people and to just think and say, you know, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. I mean, who fucking comes up with a line like that? I mean, really, but it's so fucking true, man. You know, like, Well, damn, you don't know what you're gonna get in the box of chocolates. You know, what she got, but it's how we approach things, right. And that's how we have to approach recovery, and sobriety.

Alex Kaplen: 37:32

It's funny that you say that, like, who comes up with a line like that. So we, the, we source our stories from real people. That's, that's what is really important about everything we do in everything we do, we create a sense of community connection, belonging, and empowerment. And so if you watch one of our films, in treatment, or online, and inspires you to share your story, or that thing that like you hold on to that got you sober, we encourage you to submit it and send it to us. Yeah, sometimes those are lines, sometimes those are ideas, sometimes those are full fledged stories. But if it clicks with us, we connect you with a film professional, we engage you in helping to craft your story into our next five minute rom com. That's and then once it's done, we invite you to come to set with some friends and family members and mingle with the volunteer film professionals who come and work with us and be part of breathing life into your story. And then when it's done, it goes into the system and inspires the next door to come in. Like yeah, so many of the lines that we have in our films are from groups, we've been in different people, whenever I hear something great, I write it down, and I put that person's name next to it because I want, I want to use it in the film. And I want to give them credit, if they want to credit, somebody, we've got a film coming up that we're making about a firefighter, we're working with first responders. And, and one of the lines in it is, you know, it was a, it was the journey of 1000 steps I didn't realize I was on. And that came out of a college student in a group that I was I was part of. And just like that is brilliant. Right? Like, and so I'm constantly looking for those lines, because they come from everywhere, all of us have those lines. And so we we want to bring all of us together to make those movies that have all of our lines in them. Because life is like a box of chocolates is a miracle and I can't come up with a good.

Carl Fessenden: 39:36

Wow. Well, you know, Alex, it is just been an absolute treat to have you on today. This has been I've been really looking forward to this interview because you and I talked a few weeks, maybe even a month ago. And you know, I invited you on to my show. And when we set it up and everything and now we're doing the recording. And when this goes out, it'll it'll be a few weeks past the time that we've done the recording. But I you know, I'm really looking forward to learning more about of substance. I think the idea that you take some middles from people for short film ideas, based off of their own personal experiences, I think that's tremendous. And I think the whole idea is, is going to be so revolutionary to the treatment process and to help people understand and make those bridges and connections. And and I want to commend you for the work that you've already done in your team has done and thank you for everything that you're doing for the recovery community.

Alex Kaplen: 40:43

Thank you, Carl, I I couldn't reciprocate that more the work you do with your podcasts and as a clinician, I mean, the advocacy and the space that you create, to bring us all together and to speak and be heard, and also give people a place to come and listen and feel seen heard and loved. And less alone is tremendous. I couldn't admire it more. Thank you for what you're doing when thanks for having me.

Carl Fessenden: 41:06

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So we we always do a little fun bit right at the end, Alex and right now we are going into our questions and trivia section. So, are you ready, sir? Oh God, I don't know. Oh, these are easy ones. These are Would You Rather questions? Okay, so first question, would you rather have an office dog or cat? Dog? Would you rather attend an office party or office barbecue? Barbecue? Would you rather have dinner with your team or lunch? Dinner? Would you rather sing in front of your co workers or dance? Already? Would you rather be the only person in the office of monkeys? Or the online monkey of the Office of people?

Alex Kaplen: 41:58

The only only person

Carl Fessenden: 42:00

only person the only person to be the only person Is that your final answer? Yes, it is. Yes. Okay. Very good. Very good. Would you rather play baseball with your co workers or do trivia? Trivia already? Would you rather come in early or leave late? coming early? Would you rather be a leader or be a follower? Later? Alright. Would you rather be on a small team or a large one? Large one. All right. And would you rather do team building online or in person? In person? I think that everybody would probably agree with that one. All right. Would you rather walk or would you rather drive you're in LA so I'm guessing you're probably gonna say drive? I love Okay, man. Me, too. Alright, and we're gonna jump over to some other ones here. Okay, if you had to pick between an aisle seat or a window seat on an airplane, what would your choice be? Aisle? Alrighty. What is your favorite store? Oh, man. Oh, I Oh, I don't like that. Dude, too many to choose from. All righty. All right. Oh, here's a good one. What is your favorite movie genre? comedy? Comedy? Okay. What were you afraid of as a child?

Alex Kaplen: 43:18

I'm jelly.

Carl Fessenden: 43:21

Who is your best friend? Zach once described your style and one word.

Alex Kaplen: 43:28

Spilling already?

Carl Fessenden: 43:30

What is your favorite type of stationery? apron. Okay, very good. And our last question that we asked all of our guests on the drunken warm podcast. Who is your favorite Disney character?

Alex Kaplen: 43:45

And a blue.

Carl Fessenden: 43:48

A Latin such as yours? Well, no. A Boo is from a Latin, right? Yes, he is. Yeah, yes. Yeah. Now are you are we talking about the the one that had? The animated one? Oh, okay. Good. Good, good. Good. Because the other one that just came out a few years ago was good, but it didn't have Robin Williams on it. So

Alex Kaplen: 44:08

yeah, I mean, that's tough. But also like, I I think they could have done a little bit. Yeah, I think was Will Smith was was pretty great. I didn't, I didn't expect him to really pull it off. And I think he did a pretty great job.

Carl Fessenden: 44:22

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely, man. All right. Well, it's yeah. Thank you, man. Thank you. It's just my little website that I found that generates a ton of questions for me. And I love using it. So. Alright, I will Alex Well, again, it's been a pleasure having you on the show. And if people would like to find of substance, where can they go to find your work? Where can they go to get in contact with you?

Alex Kaplen: 44:45

Yeah. Hi, please, please go check us out at of substance.org. That's o f substance.org. You can watch our films there. You can get in touch with us. Subscribe to our email. We're on Facebook. We're on Instagram. I'm on LinkedIn. We're posting all the time. And just just so you know, we have another film coming up. That's a horror rom com that is a award winning scripted one killer shorts and cover fly great best or short film. And we are filming over Mental Health Action Week MTS Mental Health Action Week in May. We are raising money right now for that film. And we're inviting people to for the first time ever to donate directly to a film to really be part of it. So if you're interested, we've got posts everywhere. We're on Indiegogo. It is called Hide your crazy. Hide your crazy film.com Go check it out. Thank you. Alright,

Carl Fessenden: 45:42

and today's guest has been Alex and if you guys would like any information on the topics that were discussed today and any of the information on how to get a hold of Alex or find of substance, it will be listed in the show notes below. And I hope that all of you have had a wonderful time on this week's episode of the drunken Warren podcast.